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View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoDISPATCH FILE PHOTOAEP Ohio says it will maintain its energy-efficiency programs despite a new state law easing requirements. One way AEP encourages savings is paying a bounty for old, less-efficient refrigerators.

American Electric Power and Duke Energy say they will stick with existing plans for energy-efficiency (programs that help customers reduce energy use) and renewable energy (investments in solar, wind and other renewable sources) that were in place before the law changed. Dayton Power & Light says it will keep its current plan through at least 2015.

That leaves FirstEnergy as the only utility considering a large pullback.

“It’s not Armageddon,” said Pablo Vegas, president and chief operating officer of AEP Ohio, in an interview. “We didn’t dive off the cliff as some of the opponents said we were going to.”

For AEP, current programs include incentives to recycle old refrigerators, rebates for businesses that upgrade to more efficient equipment, and discounts on energy-use audits.

Each of the four major electricity utilities were asked by The Dispatch recently about their plans, several months before the companies need to disclose their intentions to regulators.

During the legislative debate over the bill that resulted in the two-year freeze — Senate Bill 310 — many opponents assumed that utilities would use the law to completely stop their green programs during that time, leading to a loss of jobs and investment. Gov. John Kasich signed the bill in June.

But the key part of the law might be that each utility gets to choose its response.

FirstEnergy spokesman Doug Colafella said the company is reviewing its options and has not made any decisions.

Despite this public stance, FirstEnergy had advised some customers and vendors that it is likely to suspend its energy-efficiency programs, according to multiple sources, including John Seryak, CEO of Go Sustainable Energy in Clintonville. His company, which helps businesses improve their efficiency, mainly serves customers in AEP territory.

“(FirstEnergy) clearly doesn’t want to run their programs,” he said. He was one of many business leaders who urged lawmakers to reject the bill this spring.

FirstEnergy helped lead the push for the bill, joined by several large manufacturers and business groups. Other utilities supported the measure but were much less vocal.

“It’s really been about FirstEnergy from the get-go,” said Rob Kelter, senior attorney for the Environmental Law and Policy Center, an opponent of the changes. “The other utilities decided it wasn’t worth being involved in a legislative bloodbath when they could just continue with what they’re doing right now.”

Opponents remain concerned that the new law will harm the economy, and they want to see more details from the companies.

“It’s early, and we need to see how the new law is interpreted and implemented,” said Ted Ford, CEO of Ohio Advanced Energy Economy, a trade group for clean-energy companies.

AEP’s energy-efficiency programs, which cost $78 million last year, will keep the same levels of funding and staffing, Vegas said. Customers pay for this with an electricity-bill charge of about $3 per month for a typical household.

As for renewable energy, AEP has long-term contracts with solar arrays and wind farms that were designed to meet the old standards. Those contracts remain in place, even though the standards have changed.

The efficiency and renewable programs were developed to comply with a 2008 state law that required utilities to meet escalating annual benchmarks for conservation. The new law puts a two-year freeze on the benchmarks and makes a variety of other changes.

The new law applies mainly to investor-owned electricity utilities, the companies that serve the large majority of the state’s consumers.

FirstEnergy has about 2.1 million customers, or 43 percent of the total affected by the law. AEP is next with 1.5 million, or 30 percent, followed by Duke with 695,000, or 15 percent, and Dayton Power & Light with 573,000, or 12 percent.

“We believe that our portfolio of (energy-efficiency) offerings benefit our customers, the company and help the environment,” said Duke spokesman Blair Schroeder in an email.

Dayton Power & Light said it will continue with its current plan until the end of 2015 and is reviewing options for the following years.

AEP’s Vegas said his company was active behind the scenes during the debate, trying to preserve the programs that are popular with AEP customers but also trying to increase the utilities’ flexibility in complying with the law.

“We were very engaged in the conversation, trying to get a balanced approach,” he said.